Fall to Pieces
Chapter Thirteen
Disclaimer: As I've said many times before, they don't belong to me.
XXXX
She had to talk herself into getting out of her car the next morning; the last thing that she wanted was to spend 8 hours, or more, with him. Slowly she walked into the station house, her eyes focused on the floor in front of her, or anything that was nowhere near his eyes, although she could feel them on her. As she sat down at her desk she heard him clear his throat, but didn't acknowledge him, or the fact that he had done so to get her attention. She immediately started working.
To her dismay after an hour of paperwork they were out on a new case, a middle-aged woman was found raped and murdered in her apartment, Elliot drove them to them to the scene of the crime, but before she could get out of the car he stopped her. "We need to talk," he told her, locking the car door.
She unlocked it manually, "No. What we need to do is investigate this rape-homicide." She got out of the car and walked towards the building, Elliot hot on her trail.
"You're right," he started, "but before today is over, we will talk about this."
"I wouldn't hold my breath If I were you, Elliot," she replied crisply as she pressed the buzzer. When they were buzzed in she kept briskly walking, hoping he wouldn't catch up. Unfortunately, he did. Grabbing her arm he turned her around to face him.
"Olivia, you can't think I'm just going to forget about it. Trust me, it's not going to happen. We need to talk about it, whether we do that today or tomorrow, hell even the next day or two weeks from now, we will talk about it." They locked eyes, his had turned a darker shade of blue, she had only seen that happen when he was angry. But, he wasn't angry this time; they had darkened for a different reason. She shivered, pulled her arm away, and began to walk up the stairs to the third floor.
"You can't keep running," he called out. When she kept walking he chased after her, in professional mode. They had a case to work.
Nearly 11 hours later she left, it was almost 10 and there was nothing else that could be done so late, plus her girls were still at the babysitters. And, although Heather didn't make her pay much twelve hours of babysitting adds up. He was still sitting at his desk when she started to leave, his eyes glued to the papers scattered on his desk, and silently talking to himself. She knew to leave him be, when he obsessed over a case there was nothing she could do except hope he was smart enough to at least catch a few hours of sleep in the crib.
"I'm leaving, Elliot." She said before she walked out the door, "Get some sleep, will ya? Just a couple of hours."
He looked up from the desk, his eyes were already red and showing signs of tiredness. "Yeah, I will."
She wasn't sure if he was lying to get her off of his case or telling the truth, though she hoped it was the latter. Nodding she pushed the door open and began to walk towards her car. She would call his cell when she got home and remind him once again to sleep, hopefully he would listen.
XXXX
Around 45 minutes after she left his cell phone rang, he knew immediately that it was her, and that she would tell him again to sleep. She had done so for years, ever since she was partnered up with him. In all truths, if she hadn't reminded him so much to sleep he probably wouldn't. But he knew she would kick his ass otherwise, so he reassured her that at 12 he would sleep for a few hours. And he did, he ventured to the crib just after midnight and woke up around fifteen past three. After making a pot of coffee he went right back to work.
She walked in 20 minutes past 5, with dark bags under her eyes and hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in days. She sighed as she sat down at her desk and shuffled through the papers on her desk.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked.
She shook her head, "Got about two hours, that's it. What about you? Did you sleep any?"
He nodded, "A couple of hours, you want some coffee?"
"Yeah," she sighed, "coffee would be great."
He made each of them a cup and sat back down, "Where are the girls?"
"They're at Heather's. I took them before coming here. Found anything good so far?"
Another nod, "Our friend Mr. Rotherson lied to us, that golf course he claims to have been at wasn't opened on Sunday, in fact they haven't ever been opened on Sundays."
"Really? He had a receipt though."
He shrugged, "Must've forged it."
"Can we get a warrant on anything?" She asked, flipping through the papers on her desk.
"I'll ask Alex when she gets here, but it's still a bit early to call."
"The hell it is, I'll call her." She pulled out her cell and dialed the ADA's number; she picked up after the second ring.
"What?!?" She asked, not sounding too happy to have been woken so early. "Who is it?"
"Alex? This is Olivia, about Rotherson, is there anything we can get a warrant for on him?"
"What? I thought he had an alibi."
"Not a real one, is there anything?"
She thought a moment, "Well, his fingerprints were at the crime scene ... but any lawyer could argue that they knew each other. And with a dead victim, there's nobody to disagree."
"They were on her body, Alex."
"What time is it?"
"About five thirty."
Alex sighed, "Yeah, all right. I'll call around."
They said their good-byes and Olivia hung up the phone, "She's gonna call around. Somebody's bound to give her one just to be able to get back to sleep," she sighed. "Have you talked to anybody from the lab?"
"They only know what they told us earlier, she was suffocated. Cause of death was asphyxia."
"What about the fluids?"
"No DNA to compare it to, of course if we find anything in Rotherson's house then we can get a warrant for his DNA and test our theory." He looked at her with concern, "Why don't you go catch some sleep in the crib? You don't look so good. I promise I will wake you up as soon as I hear anything, all right?"
She shook her head adamantly, "No, I need to stay awake."
"There's nothing to do now but wait, Liv. Go and get some rest, Lord knows you need it a whole hell of a lot more than I do. As soon as Alex calls back I'll wake you up, I swear."
She gave up, too exhausted to argue further. "Fine. But if I find out she called, no matter what it was about, and you didn't wake me up, I wi--"
"All right, all right, I get it. No matter what she calls about I wake you up. Now go."
She glared at him and pushed her seat back, then got up from it and began to walk towards the crib. Yawning she realized how tired she really was, she slowly walked up the stairs and when she made it to the crib and into a bed she fell asleep instantly.
XXXX
Elliot hung up the phone and started towards the crib. It was just after six in the morning and Alex had just called back, they had their warrant. Besides him and Olivia there weren't very many people there, and Cragen was one of them. He stopped by his office before going to the crib to let him know what was going on, then went to wake Olivia.
He almost felt bad about waking her; she had looked so tired only 30 something minutes prior. But, he knew she wouldn't care, as long as they had their warrant. She was asleep when he entered the crib, one leg hanging off of the bed and her head lying on one of her arms. As he neared towards the bed she was on she mumbled something and turned around, facing away from him.
"Liv?" He asked, sitting down on a small open space. "Wake up," he gently shook her. She mumbled again, turning back towards him. "Olivia," he whispered into her ear, "come on ... we've got the warrant."
She shot forward, fully awake. "When?"
"Just a minute ago, come on, get ready. Alex is going to met us at him apartment."
She jumped off of the bed and ran out of the crib, he followed her and by the time he made it down the stairs she was already ready. Munch and Fin were there, sitting at their desks and Cragen barked at them to go with. The four piled into a sedan and headed off for Rotherson's apartment, Olivia driving a bit too fast.
Alex was waiting for them outside when they pulled up. She handed Olivia the papers, "You've got your search warrant."
"Any restrictions?" She asked.
Alex smiled, "None."
Like a whirlwind Olivia raced into the building, Elliot following close behind. She was knocking on the door by the time Elliot and the others caught up with her, yelling out to Rotherson to "open the door, it's the police!" When he didn't answer she kicked the door in, then entered the apartment with her gun raised.
Before Elliot had the chance to enter he heard her yell out, "Drop the gun!"
XXXX
"Drop the gun!" She yelled out, her own weapon trained on Rotherson. She inched further into the house, so Elliot and the others could enter. "Do it, Rotherson!" She called out, tightening her finger on the trigger of her gun.
Elliot came in behind her, his own gun ready. "Listen to her, Rotherson," he called out.
Rotherson cocked his head to one side and looked away from Olivia and at Elliot, his gun following his eyes. Olivia watched closely as he mimicked her earlier actions, his finger tightening the trigger.
"Drop it, I'll shoot!"
Rotherson laughed bitterly, cocking his gun, which was now aimed back at her. When his finger began to tighten on the trigger again she heard a sickly familiar boom ringing in her ears. Rotherson faltered and fell into a crumpled heap on the floor of his apartment. She looked down at the gun in her hands, it wasn't smoking ... had she pulled the trigger? No, she hadn't.
She looked over at Elliot, his gun, however, was smoking. He dropped his arm; it laid limply at his side. Munch and Fin went to check on Rotherson, Munch on his cell calling a bus, Fin trying to stop the bleeding in Rotherson's stomach. Olivia put her own gun away and walked over to Elliot, who was silently talking to either himself or her.
"He was going to shoot you," he whispered. "Bastard was about to shoot you."
She covered his hand with hers and gently took the gun away, "I know ... you did the right thing."
He looked into her eyes, a shocked expression still lingering in his. "I love you, Olivia. I hope you to know that."
She half-smiled, "I do...." Sighing she said, "IAB will be wanting your gun and your badge, Elliot."
He nodded and pulled his badge out, handing it to her. "Are you all right?" He asked, concern filling his voice.
"I'm not the one who just shot somebody. How are you doing?"
"I've been through it before..." he looked over to where Munch and Fin were caring for Rotherson. "I'll be fine," he said quietly.
Olivia took hold on his hand with her free one, and their fingers intertwined. "Come on," she said, "let's go wait for the bus."
Elliot nodded and they walked out of the apartment, hand in hand, and down the stairs. When Olivia saw Tucker pull up she let go of his hand and went to talk with him, giving him Elliot's badge and gun. He listened to her side of the story and then pulled Elliot away to hear what he had to say, around the same time the bus pulled up and Olivia directed them to where Rotherson was.
When they came out, Rotherson on a stretcher covered by a black sheet, she looked over at Elliot, who was still talking with IAB Agent Tucker. The two locked eyes and she frowned; his eyes followed the stretcher until the doors to the ambulance shut. He then looked over at Tucker and started talking again.
Olivia sighed and went upstairs, back to Rotherson's apartment where Munch and Fin still were.
"How's he doing?" Munch inquired, hanging up his cell.
Olivia sighed, "He'll be fine."
XXXX
A/N: Yeah, well. Anyway, you know what to do. Press that little bluish-purplish button and send me something nice!
Chapter Thirteen
Disclaimer: As I've said many times before, they don't belong to me.
XXXX
She had to talk herself into getting out of her car the next morning; the last thing that she wanted was to spend 8 hours, or more, with him. Slowly she walked into the station house, her eyes focused on the floor in front of her, or anything that was nowhere near his eyes, although she could feel them on her. As she sat down at her desk she heard him clear his throat, but didn't acknowledge him, or the fact that he had done so to get her attention. She immediately started working.
To her dismay after an hour of paperwork they were out on a new case, a middle-aged woman was found raped and murdered in her apartment, Elliot drove them to them to the scene of the crime, but before she could get out of the car he stopped her. "We need to talk," he told her, locking the car door.
She unlocked it manually, "No. What we need to do is investigate this rape-homicide." She got out of the car and walked towards the building, Elliot hot on her trail.
"You're right," he started, "but before today is over, we will talk about this."
"I wouldn't hold my breath If I were you, Elliot," she replied crisply as she pressed the buzzer. When they were buzzed in she kept briskly walking, hoping he wouldn't catch up. Unfortunately, he did. Grabbing her arm he turned her around to face him.
"Olivia, you can't think I'm just going to forget about it. Trust me, it's not going to happen. We need to talk about it, whether we do that today or tomorrow, hell even the next day or two weeks from now, we will talk about it." They locked eyes, his had turned a darker shade of blue, she had only seen that happen when he was angry. But, he wasn't angry this time; they had darkened for a different reason. She shivered, pulled her arm away, and began to walk up the stairs to the third floor.
"You can't keep running," he called out. When she kept walking he chased after her, in professional mode. They had a case to work.
Nearly 11 hours later she left, it was almost 10 and there was nothing else that could be done so late, plus her girls were still at the babysitters. And, although Heather didn't make her pay much twelve hours of babysitting adds up. He was still sitting at his desk when she started to leave, his eyes glued to the papers scattered on his desk, and silently talking to himself. She knew to leave him be, when he obsessed over a case there was nothing she could do except hope he was smart enough to at least catch a few hours of sleep in the crib.
"I'm leaving, Elliot." She said before she walked out the door, "Get some sleep, will ya? Just a couple of hours."
He looked up from the desk, his eyes were already red and showing signs of tiredness. "Yeah, I will."
She wasn't sure if he was lying to get her off of his case or telling the truth, though she hoped it was the latter. Nodding she pushed the door open and began to walk towards her car. She would call his cell when she got home and remind him once again to sleep, hopefully he would listen.
XXXX
Around 45 minutes after she left his cell phone rang, he knew immediately that it was her, and that she would tell him again to sleep. She had done so for years, ever since she was partnered up with him. In all truths, if she hadn't reminded him so much to sleep he probably wouldn't. But he knew she would kick his ass otherwise, so he reassured her that at 12 he would sleep for a few hours. And he did, he ventured to the crib just after midnight and woke up around fifteen past three. After making a pot of coffee he went right back to work.
She walked in 20 minutes past 5, with dark bags under her eyes and hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in days. She sighed as she sat down at her desk and shuffled through the papers on her desk.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked.
She shook her head, "Got about two hours, that's it. What about you? Did you sleep any?"
He nodded, "A couple of hours, you want some coffee?"
"Yeah," she sighed, "coffee would be great."
He made each of them a cup and sat back down, "Where are the girls?"
"They're at Heather's. I took them before coming here. Found anything good so far?"
Another nod, "Our friend Mr. Rotherson lied to us, that golf course he claims to have been at wasn't opened on Sunday, in fact they haven't ever been opened on Sundays."
"Really? He had a receipt though."
He shrugged, "Must've forged it."
"Can we get a warrant on anything?" She asked, flipping through the papers on her desk.
"I'll ask Alex when she gets here, but it's still a bit early to call."
"The hell it is, I'll call her." She pulled out her cell and dialed the ADA's number; she picked up after the second ring.
"What?!?" She asked, not sounding too happy to have been woken so early. "Who is it?"
"Alex? This is Olivia, about Rotherson, is there anything we can get a warrant for on him?"
"What? I thought he had an alibi."
"Not a real one, is there anything?"
She thought a moment, "Well, his fingerprints were at the crime scene ... but any lawyer could argue that they knew each other. And with a dead victim, there's nobody to disagree."
"They were on her body, Alex."
"What time is it?"
"About five thirty."
Alex sighed, "Yeah, all right. I'll call around."
They said their good-byes and Olivia hung up the phone, "She's gonna call around. Somebody's bound to give her one just to be able to get back to sleep," she sighed. "Have you talked to anybody from the lab?"
"They only know what they told us earlier, she was suffocated. Cause of death was asphyxia."
"What about the fluids?"
"No DNA to compare it to, of course if we find anything in Rotherson's house then we can get a warrant for his DNA and test our theory." He looked at her with concern, "Why don't you go catch some sleep in the crib? You don't look so good. I promise I will wake you up as soon as I hear anything, all right?"
She shook her head adamantly, "No, I need to stay awake."
"There's nothing to do now but wait, Liv. Go and get some rest, Lord knows you need it a whole hell of a lot more than I do. As soon as Alex calls back I'll wake you up, I swear."
She gave up, too exhausted to argue further. "Fine. But if I find out she called, no matter what it was about, and you didn't wake me up, I wi--"
"All right, all right, I get it. No matter what she calls about I wake you up. Now go."
She glared at him and pushed her seat back, then got up from it and began to walk towards the crib. Yawning she realized how tired she really was, she slowly walked up the stairs and when she made it to the crib and into a bed she fell asleep instantly.
XXXX
Elliot hung up the phone and started towards the crib. It was just after six in the morning and Alex had just called back, they had their warrant. Besides him and Olivia there weren't very many people there, and Cragen was one of them. He stopped by his office before going to the crib to let him know what was going on, then went to wake Olivia.
He almost felt bad about waking her; she had looked so tired only 30 something minutes prior. But, he knew she wouldn't care, as long as they had their warrant. She was asleep when he entered the crib, one leg hanging off of the bed and her head lying on one of her arms. As he neared towards the bed she was on she mumbled something and turned around, facing away from him.
"Liv?" He asked, sitting down on a small open space. "Wake up," he gently shook her. She mumbled again, turning back towards him. "Olivia," he whispered into her ear, "come on ... we've got the warrant."
She shot forward, fully awake. "When?"
"Just a minute ago, come on, get ready. Alex is going to met us at him apartment."
She jumped off of the bed and ran out of the crib, he followed her and by the time he made it down the stairs she was already ready. Munch and Fin were there, sitting at their desks and Cragen barked at them to go with. The four piled into a sedan and headed off for Rotherson's apartment, Olivia driving a bit too fast.
Alex was waiting for them outside when they pulled up. She handed Olivia the papers, "You've got your search warrant."
"Any restrictions?" She asked.
Alex smiled, "None."
Like a whirlwind Olivia raced into the building, Elliot following close behind. She was knocking on the door by the time Elliot and the others caught up with her, yelling out to Rotherson to "open the door, it's the police!" When he didn't answer she kicked the door in, then entered the apartment with her gun raised.
Before Elliot had the chance to enter he heard her yell out, "Drop the gun!"
XXXX
"Drop the gun!" She yelled out, her own weapon trained on Rotherson. She inched further into the house, so Elliot and the others could enter. "Do it, Rotherson!" She called out, tightening her finger on the trigger of her gun.
Elliot came in behind her, his own gun ready. "Listen to her, Rotherson," he called out.
Rotherson cocked his head to one side and looked away from Olivia and at Elliot, his gun following his eyes. Olivia watched closely as he mimicked her earlier actions, his finger tightening the trigger.
"Drop it, I'll shoot!"
Rotherson laughed bitterly, cocking his gun, which was now aimed back at her. When his finger began to tighten on the trigger again she heard a sickly familiar boom ringing in her ears. Rotherson faltered and fell into a crumpled heap on the floor of his apartment. She looked down at the gun in her hands, it wasn't smoking ... had she pulled the trigger? No, she hadn't.
She looked over at Elliot, his gun, however, was smoking. He dropped his arm; it laid limply at his side. Munch and Fin went to check on Rotherson, Munch on his cell calling a bus, Fin trying to stop the bleeding in Rotherson's stomach. Olivia put her own gun away and walked over to Elliot, who was silently talking to either himself or her.
"He was going to shoot you," he whispered. "Bastard was about to shoot you."
She covered his hand with hers and gently took the gun away, "I know ... you did the right thing."
He looked into her eyes, a shocked expression still lingering in his. "I love you, Olivia. I hope you to know that."
She half-smiled, "I do...." Sighing she said, "IAB will be wanting your gun and your badge, Elliot."
He nodded and pulled his badge out, handing it to her. "Are you all right?" He asked, concern filling his voice.
"I'm not the one who just shot somebody. How are you doing?"
"I've been through it before..." he looked over to where Munch and Fin were caring for Rotherson. "I'll be fine," he said quietly.
Olivia took hold on his hand with her free one, and their fingers intertwined. "Come on," she said, "let's go wait for the bus."
Elliot nodded and they walked out of the apartment, hand in hand, and down the stairs. When Olivia saw Tucker pull up she let go of his hand and went to talk with him, giving him Elliot's badge and gun. He listened to her side of the story and then pulled Elliot away to hear what he had to say, around the same time the bus pulled up and Olivia directed them to where Rotherson was.
When they came out, Rotherson on a stretcher covered by a black sheet, she looked over at Elliot, who was still talking with IAB Agent Tucker. The two locked eyes and she frowned; his eyes followed the stretcher until the doors to the ambulance shut. He then looked over at Tucker and started talking again.
Olivia sighed and went upstairs, back to Rotherson's apartment where Munch and Fin still were.
"How's he doing?" Munch inquired, hanging up his cell.
Olivia sighed, "He'll be fine."
XXXX
A/N: Yeah, well. Anyway, you know what to do. Press that little bluish-purplish button and send me something nice!